Why Wells Fargo Is Worth Banking On

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, banking giant has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Wells Fargo and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Wells Fargo facts

Headquarters (founded)

San Francisco (1852)

Market Cap

$218.6 billion

Industry

Diversified banks

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$79.9 billion

Management

Chairman / CEO John StumpfCFO Timothy Sloan

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

12%

Dividend Yield

2.9%

Competitors

Bank of AmericaCitigroupJPMorgan Chase

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 90% of the 5,002 members who have rated Wells Fargo believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, All-Star alittlelost, succinctly summed up the Wells Fargo bull case for our community:

[Wells Fargo] is going to benefit from a strengthening economy and rising interest rates. [I]n the [past quarter], it grew its earnings by 23%. [W]hile that is unlikely to continue at that rate (more likely at 8%), it is currently trading at a respectable 11.6x earnings. [T]he stock should continue to do well with a growing dividend and stock repurchases going forward.

Wells Fargo's dedication to solid, conservative banking helped it vastly outperform its peers during the financial meltdown. Today, Wells is the same great bank as ever, but with its stock trading at a premium to the rest of the industry, is there still room to buy, or is it time to cash in your gains? To help figure out whether Wells Fargo is a buy today, I invite you to download our premium research report from one of The Motley Fool's top banking analysts. Click here now for instant access to this in-depth take on Wells Fargo.